Today is John 3:16 Day

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Abby's First Photo Shoot

When Abby was 12 days old we took her to her first photo shoot. Our photographer, Brooke (my sister's boyfriend's sister - got that!?), did a great job! Without further adieu here's Abby!

Prior to this picture we'd taken her diaper off as Brooke wanted a few photos with naked butt. Abby promptly peed all over everything! Diaper quickly went back on. :-)

Love my honey bunny!

So peaceful looking in Daddy's arms - yet I know that this picture was taken of a very fussy baby who was not happy laying on Daddy's arms. Brooke did a great job of snapping that one second of a calm face between cries.

Love this photo of Nate and Abby.

Daddy loves his little girl.

I LOVE this little grin that she does!



Mommy loves her little girl, too.



The happy family.

This is a favorite of the family's. She needed three towels to fit in the teacup!

I ADORE her crossed hands in this photo. She does this all the time; it's one of her favorite ways to sleep.

One of the few bare bottom shots we got. Thankfully a quick diaper was not needed.

Look at how tiny her feet are. It's amazing to see how perfectly made she is. Even down to her tiny little toenails.

Well, that was more photos than I'd originally intended to add but I love so many of that I figured that since it's my blog I can add as many as I want! Remember my previous post where I warned that this was going to become an all about Abby blog for a while...well, I wasn't lying!

Maternity Photo Shoot

I just realized that I never posted my maternity photos from a maternity shoot I did back in December. I kept meaning to post these pictures but something (the holidays, baby showers, then Abby) kept taking precedence and I just forgot about them. But I really like them enough to want to share with you. So, while a few months late, here are a few of my maternity photos.

LOVE this picture. One of my absolute favorites.

Nate can barely put his arms around my belly.



Woah - look at that belly.



I think this was the photo used for this year's Christmas card.

Here Nate proves that he can still wrap his arms around my belly - but not by much!

I LOVE this naked belly shot. My sister framed this photo as a Christmas present to me this year and I got teary eye upon opening it. I just love the look and feel of this. Brings back great memories when I look at it.

1 Month Old

Today Abby is one month old. Can you believe that she's already a month?! In a way it feels like Abby just got here so how could she be a month old already but at the same time it feels like she's been a part of our lives for so long that our entire family structure has changed. I no longer just get up and go, but now back track my thinking to figure out if we have to leave by X time how soon do I have to start getting me ready, so that I can then feed Abby and get her ready, so that we can load the car to get to where we need to go by the set time. It's almost funny to think of a time (even so short ago) when I just got up and went.

Abby is also growing by leaps and bounds. Her tummy and face are filling out more, she's able to lift and keep her head up for a few seconds at a time instead of just bobbing around, and she's got a lot more awake periods. She's still pretty much just a blob of baby (cute to look at but doesn't really do anything) but I'm seeing personality peeking through, and I'm definitely starting to recognize what her different cries mean. She's just such a precious addition to our lives!

Happy one-month anniversary, Abby!

Abby a few hours after birth.



Abby a few days old.





Happily enjoying her bath time.



Abby is 1 month old today!

Lent - Not Giving Up This Year

Today is Ash Wednesday which means that this is the beginning Lent and usually the time that I normally give up Pop/Soda for 40-odd days. (I'm of the thought that Sundays of Lent count as Lenten days and not days off.) However, this year I'm doing something different. I'm NOT giving anything up for Lent this year. Instead I'm adding something to my routine. This Lenten season I'm vowing to read the Bible every day. See, I'm not a big Bible reader. While I can say that I've read the entire Bible from beginning to end it was quite a few years ago and, other than randomly reading passages with Nate every once in a blue moon, I rarely pick up and open this book. This Lenten season I'm going to change this. Every day during Lent I'm going to read the Bible, and not just a sentence or paragraph but actual chapters. I'm hopeful that after weeks of daily Bible reading I'll get back into a habit of reading the Bible more often. I'm posting this to make myself accountable to more than just myself, but to those of you who happen to read this blog. I'm very hopeful that on Easter Sunday I can come back here and post that my daily Bible journey was successful!

First Anniversary

Today Nate and I celebrated one year of marriage. My how this anniversary celebration was different than I expected. If you'd asked me on our wedding day how we'd be celebrating our first anniversary I'd have probably said that we'd take an extended weekend away at some fancy hotel or maybe even a trip to the coast or something. Basically an extravagant weekend getaway for the two of us. What we ended up doing wasn't as exciting or glamorous, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

This morning Abby and I woke up early (7:30am) and since she was so alert I figured I should wake Nate up to enjoy her wake time. So the three of us cuddled and played for an hour or so. Then we got up, showered, and dressed and went out to Sageport Grill for breakfast. Afterwards we stopped by Babies R Us to pick up diapers, wipes, bath towels, and a baby bathtub (in which I totally scored by saving over $20 with my various coupons!). Next we headed back home where we gave Abby a bath (she totally loves bath time!) and then Nate and Abby watched TV and took a nap while I worked on thank you notes. A little before 3pm we got dressed up, got Abby fed, and headed to my parent's house so that they could babysit Abby while Nate and I went out for wine and appetizers.

Since our first choice of Tagaris was closed we ended up at Bookwalter Winery for cheese fondue for 'dinner' and chocolate fondue for dessert. I also had my first glass of wine, really my first glass of anything alcoholic, since finding out I was pregnant. That first taste was heaven! I will definitely enjoy being able to partake of the sauce (in responsible quantities) again. Nate and I sat and chatted by the fire for almost two hours just reconnecting and recognizing how important the two of us as a married couple are to the success of our family of three (so far!). It was also nice having a conversation where I didn't get distracted from said conversation by Abby making noises or needing something. I was very proud of myself in that I thought of Abby and missed her but was still able to thoroughly enjoy myself even without her by my side. I would say that the first time away from Abby was a success! Granted, it'll be a bit until I'm wanting to do this again, but I'm happy to know that it should work again.

After we left Bookwalter we went back to my parents house to pick up Abby, who did just fine with being away from her parents, and headed home. Once at home we both had a slice of the top layer of our wedding cake that has been sitting in our freezer for the past year. I was pleasantly surprised at how decent it tasted. Definitely not the same as how it tasted on our wedding day, but since I was expecting cardboard and paste it was pretty darn good. Finally we worked at getting Abby to sleep and watched a bad alien movie.

All in all, the day was about as perfect as I could hope for. Not my weekend hotel getaway, but speaking truthfully this was so much better. :-) A day with my husband and my baby girl...what more could I ask for.

Heading out for our anniversary date.
First time away from Abby as well. A great night to remember!